They were friends, skies, but also a family
by 14fox
Summary: One shots about Dino and Tsuna's brotherly bond, along with other skies. Chapter 3: Everyone have their own ways of caring. And often they are very different; but the content is the same. This is KHR, so please, of course there will be cursing and violence. There will be pretty much all genres if it's wished.
1. What big brothers are for

**Chapter 1**

 **Yes, I know, I said that the first chapter would come at the same time as the last chapter of "Finding my destiny", but there are little... Technical problems with that, so I decided to put this out first.**

 **So, Anyway, thank you to all of you who voted for this, or voted at all. I will defiantly write all three of them, but for now, this is the first one out.**

 **I don't own KHR, or the characters. Just the ideas. But I take requests!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Many forgot that Dino Cavallone was a part of a mafia Famiglia, let alone a boss. The man was so good hearted and goofy **most** of the time, that there was no way people could think that he was even a criminal!

But then again, Dino was a good boss, whenever it was by heart or mind.

Dino hold all of his men equally, and never looked down on them. He hold each member of his Family with a pride and love, like a boss he was. After Cavallone Famiglia had been almost drowned into depths by his father, Dino had built Cavallone back up piece by piece, and made sure that anything like that would never happen again.

Dino had collected new members of the Famiglia from everywhere. They were all the way from former _civilians_ that had nowhere else to go, and who Dino had _sworn to_ _protect_ , to old enemies who had been turned into _friends_ and former Famiglia members who had lost hope after Cavallone's financial problems had started. All those, and many more had swore their loyalty to Dino, not because they didn't have any other choice, but because they saw Dino as _**their boss**_ and how the tenth boss cared for both of his own men and civilians.

It wasn't hard to believe that man was ranked as the number one out of 82, 263 mafia bosses who cared for the safety of their subordinates as much as civilians. (This being told by Ranking prince Fuuta de Stella.)

Dino hadn't wanted to become like his father, man whose hands were tainted by blood and drugs, that had finally drove him to his end. But Dino loved his famiglia more than he feared it, and he was forever thankful that Reborn had shown him that **he** didn't have to fear his own Famiglia, that **he** could be different from his father and **he** was the one who decided how **he** leaded his Famiglia.

And whenever people forgot this by doing much as mocking his people, well... He gave them a sharp remainder. (Famiglias that were given this kind of remainder, were never heart of anymore. Dino was, after all, still **a mafia boss**.)

People also forgot easily that he was indeed a Sky. In his younger years, no one would have believed it in millions years. Now it wasn't so hard to believe, but easily forgotten. It was just... Normally, you could tell just by glancing at someone that they were a Sky. The leadership, power, graze and _utter harmony_...it just... Showed.

So yes, Dino wasn't exactly a typical Sky. But then again, he did remain people of it every now and then, showing that he was a True Sky.

(Dino wasn't a proud, prowling feline that viciously strikes at anyone who was thought to be a threat like Xanxus, Enma or Tsuna. He wasn't a majestic and fearless dragon like Byakuran. He wasn't like an all accepting and forgiving Sky like Yuni either. He was a proud, but good-natured stallion, who was well aware of his position as the leader of his herd. He may look harmless and easy target, but when you last expected it, he would be vicious and kick you _hard_.)

But this time... They forgot that before he was a boss, he was a _student_. Student of Reborn's to be exact, and with that, they forgot that he was a **big brother** of one certain Tuna.

 _Baaad mistake_...

* * *

Dino hummed under his breath as he walked towards the Namori high school. Tsuna and most of his guardians, minus Hibari, Ryohei, Mukuro and Lambo, attended it after Namimori middle school. The girls had also gone there with Tsuna and others.

Hibari had skipped two graces, not a surprise there, so he could pay more attention to Foundation that he had started building up. Surprisingly enough, Ryohei had went for a medic school in Tokyo, and he was getting good graces, which was rather impressive. Ryohei had worked hard to get into that school, and Kyoko and Tsuna along with others were proud of him and his process.

Lambo and the other children went to the Namimori elementary school, and they would finish their schooling in Japan, while living with Nana, their legal guardian. Mukuro was mostly with the Kokuyo gang while getting used to his own physical body, constantly getting checked by either Shamal, Reborn or Ryohei, to make sure that he was healing right from his stay in the Vendicare Prison.

(Thought Mukoro didn't say it, he was thankful to them for their care. While Tsuna and Vongola helped him, they gave him his own space, so that he could be comfortable with them.)

Anyway, it had been Tsuna's birthday last week, but Dino had been too busy with forming an alliance with a Famiglia, that had almost started a war with one of Dino's allies. Dino had sent his congratulations, but he wanted to celebrate the important day with his little brother personally.

Which leads us here to this Friday afternoon, where Dino is making a visit to Japan, to surprise one certain Tuna, that we all know and love.

Of course, Dino had informed Reborn about his plan, and had asked for tutor to keep it as surprise. Reborn had agreed, thought only in favour that Dino owned him one. (Again.) Reborn was actually one to recommend this particular day, saying that Dino would have better chances of getting his little brother all himself. Of course, Dino had immediately agreed. It wasn't everyday he could spent time with his brother, let alone have time without Tsuna's guardians' presence.

Don't get him wrong, Dino liked Tsuna's guardians almost as much as he liked their Sky, but sometimes... They were just too much. Dino could easily understand why Tsuna was as desperate as he was sometimes because of his guardians actions. Younger male was particularly a caretaker of eight, energetic, brutal, short tempered and fight addicted kids. Who had more than one trauma, possible death experiences and some serious moral and social problems.

Even Skies had their limits.

It was rather nice day, like days in Namimori usually were. Dino loved every second he spent in Japan these days, he could almost completely relax, and have fun without wondering how many assassins there was in the grows around him. Mafia never sleeps, after all.

Dino was almost at the school, when he felt his Sky flames flaring angrily. He stopped death on his tracks, sharpened his senses, and looked around. He may not have Vongola's 'Hyper Intuition', but he had sharp senses. He felt rather familiar Sky flames just behind the corner, along with few rather weak and completely strange Lightings along with one pathetic Storm leading them. Warning bells rang in Dino's head, and his eyes narrowed as he followed flames' tracks. After getting little closer, he started hearing rather loud racket coming from one alley between few stores.

'How I didn't hear it before?' Dino thought with a frown as he speeded up a little, he knew Tsuna had a habit of attracting problems, even thought he didn't mean it. Now Dino was happy that Ivan had insisted on coming with him, since Dino had put Romario on other duties for today, wishing to have some time with his brother alone. Thought people didn't know it, Dino was aware of his clumsiness. He was just rather embarrassed and frustrated to admit that he was completely useless without his men around, so he pretended to be obvious to it. **(But he was fine even if they were 1 km away! That was improving!)**

As they turned around a corner, they saw four little bulkier high school students, the biggest one holding Tsuna by his collar in the air. They didn't even seem to realise someone had discovered their little pass time activity. Tsuna wasn't all that hurt, just little shaken around, but he did have few rather nasty bruises that stung a little. Tsuna had had much worse with Reborn's tortur-, I mean, **teaching methods** and his guardians weren't really soft handed type of people either, even if they didn't mean anything bad.

Tsuna just looked at his bullies with blank face, just waiting for this to be over. He didn't have energy to deal with this today, and frankly, he just whished them to leave him alone. Tsuna knew he was strong enough to protect himself, even beat up these guys to point that they would only be sobbing and bleeding mess, but Tsuna wasn't like that. He wouldn't abuse the power he had, no matter the coast. His oath to create the Vongola as new would be for nothing other wise, right?

Tsuna didn't see Dino at first, but he felt rather familiar Sky flames flare in rage.

And it was from rather close by.

Tsuna's head wiped to side, and his eyes widened when he saw Dino standing there, shaking in fury, his Sky flames dancing around his frame dangerously, _**begging**_ to be released so they could **burn these scums to ashes**. Man's fist were pressed tightly at his sides, and his bangs shadowed his face. But just as Tsuna's bully was about to raise his hand to punch the brunette, Dino's head shot up, and his normally warm brown eyes were narrowed in cold glare. Before teens could blink, Dino punched the one holding Tsuna, sending him flying to side. Tsuna fell gracefully to his feet, used to being swept from his feet.

 **"What. The. Fuck. You. Think. You. Are. Doing?"** Dino growled. Tsuna watched in shock as Dino stood there, intimating four high school students with his flames that were raging around the boys.

"W-what the hell does it mean to you?! We were just having some fun, right Dame-Tsuna?!" Growled/whimpered the utter idiot leader/the kid that Dino had punched.

Dino stared at the shaking mess in front of him. The kid was clearly a drop out, and he had army styled black hair, along with small pig like eyes. He was rather bulky, and there was rather nasty looking bruise forming on the side of his head in steady pace.

(No matter how casual or nice Dino might have seen, he still was-IS **a MAFIA BOSS.** )

"Huh, **'Fun'** , you call it." Dino hummed, before giving a grin that would make Xanxus proud. "Yeah I remember that, when I was younger thought, this was considered as fooling around. The real fun started when they start to cry for mercy with their broken body twitching every now and then, before they **stilled**." Dino was still grinning, with steeled, cold eyes glaring at them.

(He if who should know how to be imitating. He had been shown by his bullies at the Mafia school, by his father when he was on a bad mood or just drunk, and by one Hitman. But the last one **taught him how to stand back**. And he would do just that.)

The bullies were shaking in fear, this foreign guy was really scaring the shit out of them. (Literally, all four were pissing under them self). Dino started to walk casually closer to them, hands in the pockets of his jacket, and they tried to back away, but they froze when they were met by a dead end. Dino gave a cold smile, that told them that if they tried anything **_funny_** , they would be dead.

"Want me to show you? 'Cause I can, if you fool around with my little brother again." Dino leaned closer to the boss, and whispered in his ear. "And trust me, I'll know if you do much as LOOK at him or his friends oddly."

Dino leaned back, and stepped out of their way, neutral look on his face, and four pale boys all but shot out of the alley, almost beating Tsuna's running records. Dino stared heatedly after them, but when he heard a small sight escape from Tsuna, the glare turned into a concerned look, his flames finally retreating.

"You okay Tsuna? Did they get you good?" Dino asked as he went to help the seventeen year old teen. Tsuna gave a tired smile, that looked little sad even, making Dino even more worried. Tsuna saw that Dino was about to tell whoever he had with him to call an ambulance or something, and put in.

"I'm fine, little bruised, but fine. No, I have no broken bones, or twisted ankle, or black eye. Just bruises, and even they are rather mild." Dino sighed in relief, but he still looked troubled.

"Why didn't you defence yourself? You have more than enough control, so you could have handled them without creating any lasting damage. Well, expect for their pride." Dino tried to lighten up the mood, and he felt small ball of self satisfaction when Tsuna's lips twitched little up wards.

"I was just so tired, and well, I just honestly didn't have energy to deal with them. So I just kind of went along. Besides, it's not like this was the first time, and compared to Reborn's training, this is nothing." Dino frowned at Tsuna's explanation. Then something hit him.

"Where are your guardians? Or Reborn and others for that fact." If there was one thing Dino knew about Tsuna, was that people around him that cared about him were rather protective and would he say, possessive. It was rare to see the young boss alone. He had expected that when Reborn said that he had better chances on getting some brotherly bonding time with Tsuna, that Tsuna's guardians would be busy, and there weren't as many of them bustling around and that he was free to take Tsuna from them for a while without having a fight over it.

He didn't expect to find his little brother alone.

(Besides, young Skies/elements like Tsuna, or his guardians, often got anxious or had many mood swings if they were away from their set before their bonds would be stabilized, and their elements couldn't be claimed by another Sky. It could lead to some serious problems, if they were to be separated for long, which was why bosses usually waited to be at least over twenty before looking for their guardians as the side effects would be little easier to handle, or that their bonds were formed from the very start, so they could stabilize by the time they were supposed to take their tittle as the boss.)

Tsuna's mood sobered slightly, making Dino suspicious.

"Takeshi has a game out side of town, and Hayato is with Irie and Spammer, they were planning some changes on Cola Mosca. Kyoko and Haru took kids out, to watch a movie and Chrome went for a field trip with Kokuyo gang and Mukuro, and Hibari is also out of town for some trouble with a Yakuza gang. Ryohei came back from his school last week, but he already left back to Tokyo." Tsuna explained with little fond but sad look.

"And Renorn or Bianci?" Dino questioned, he had feeling that Reborn may or may not have his hands in this.

"Bianci took Reborn to a 'much needed relaxing and romantic date', as she called it. They will be in India for two days before going to Switzerland. Even mom and dad are away! Dad took mom for a vacation, for a week and Shamal is in Italia, looking for women again." Dino was pretty sure that Tsuna was pouting now. Even in his late teens, Tsuna looked like a kid to him.

Okay, that wasn't exactly true, as the most population of the female side of the school would _loudly_ disagree.

Tsuna's body was still slender side, but he was rather muscular compared to what he was. He was only half head shorter than Dino, and his face had lost most of it's baby fat. Tsuna's eyes were sharper now, and his yaws were firmer. His hair was still as wild and uncontrollable bird nest as always, and Dino couldn't help but wonder, how on earth it had turned out like that. (He had once asked Romario to see if he could do anything to that hair, but in the end, Romario had used six bottles of hairspray for nothing) All in all, Tsuna looked a very handsome young man. To most at least.

Tsuna's voice was also much lower, but it still had that gentle tone. Even thought Tsuna was a far cry from that small anxious teen, his bullies still haunted him with their taunts and mocking. Tsuna had learned to ignore most of it thanks to his guardians, and he wasn't nearly as clumsy as he use to be. Tsuna's graces had rised, and he could keep up with classes, thanks to Reborn's tutoring. (Yes, it actually helped. Who would have known?)

Usually Tsuna had at least one of his guardians, usually Gokudera and/or Yamamoto, with him. Since Tsuna disliked using violence against any civilians, his guardians were uncomfortable with leaving him alone for long time periods. And when they left Tsuna alone, he would be targeted by more than a few bullies. Of course, Tsuna didn't tell about this to anyone.

Because **A)** he didn't want to trouble them,

 **B)** since it would be a mascara and

 **C)** if they found out, they would NEVER leave him alone. Tsuna loved his family, really, but he appreciated his privacy. ( **And the paperwork that would come after them, would no doubt be HUGE. And TSUNA, would be the one handling it.)**

So it was way less stressful for everyone if he just kept quiet bared it.

"Anyway, Dino-san, what are you doing here? Not that I aren't happy to see you!" Dino felt happy that Tsuna had finally won over his stuttering, even if it did come back every now and then, especially if Tsuna was extremely anxious or terrified. Dino grinned at Tsuna, and ruffled his hair gently.

"Well, your birthday was last week right? I'm sorry I couldn't make it back then, but I was hoping that I could steal you for today, to make up for it." Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise, but Dino saw happiness dancing in them, and he grinned when he seemed to be able to cheer up his little brother.

"So what do you say about videogames and some take out? My threat." Dino gave Tsuna his hand, and brunette shook it almost immediately.

"Sure! That sounds great! We can crash on my house, since everyone seem to half live there anyway." Tsuna commented little sarcastically, thought with a fond smile and Dino grinned, and threw his arm over Tsuna's shoulders, in very Yamamoto-like-manner.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Ivan! You mind calling us a ride?" Ivan, who had been just standing there, feeling rather useless just nodded and called a driver and asked him to bring Dino some other things. The car came in no time, and the men started to make their way to Tsuna's house. When they reached the house, Tsuna went inside ahead of Dino, who was trying to tell his men that he would be fine alone with Tsuna.

"Come on guys, I'll be fine. Besides, I want you to get me some information." Ivan and Micheal, the driver, looked at each others before looking back at their boss.

"What information?" Dino's face went serious and he spoke in quiet but serious tone, making sure that only they heard.

"I want all security tapes around the town, where Tsuna is being bothered by others. Also, I want file of every last person who has ever bullied Tsuna. And records of Tsuna's teachers, all the way down to the elementary school. I want you to find all their dirt that they hide, even if it's just something simple as rotten tooth. I want to put end to this, once and for all. Also, inform Xanxus, Yuni, Enma and Byakuran about an unofficial meeting I want to have with them. By tomorrow, am I clear?" Dino's voice left no room for arguments.

Ivan and Micheal paled and nodded, before speeding away to gather the insane among of information their boss had set them to get. Dino nodded to himself and went inside the house, hearing Tsuna setting the consoles for the game at upstairs. Going towards the sound, he ended up in Tsuna's room.

"Dino-san? Do you want to sleep in guest room or on a sofa? My room is also fine, since I don't mind sleeping on the sofa either." Tsuna called over his shoulder, Dino thought for a moment, before shrugging.

"The sofa is fine with me. I really like yours, it's so soft, but a hard at same time." Tsuna nodded, and started the game. He grinned at Dino as he gave him the console.

"I should probably warn you, Dino-san. I'm a master in this game. Even Reborn has hard time with me." Dino gulped, wondering how the hell brunette managed to do that.

"Please go easy on me..." Dino laughed uneasily, and they started the game.

* * *

 **Fifteen games and over thousand rounds later...**

"Ah! I give up! I just can't beat you, Tsuna!" Dina huffed in frustration as he lied down on his back. It was well past ten, and the pizzas they had ordered were eaten long ago, leaving only empty boxes laying on the floor. Tsuna gave his innocent grin, while chuckling at Dino's actions. They had been playing video games for well over five hours, and Dino hadn't beaten Tsuna for once.

"How you do it?! Seriously, I swear that you know these games inside out!" Dino huffed as he sat up and pouted at Tsuna. The eighteen year old teenager just laughed, as he put the console away.

"Well, practice makes the master and before Reborn came, I used to have lots of free time. Video games have always been about one of the only things I'm naturally good at." Tsuna huffed a breathless laugh, that made Dino frown. He didn't like it when Tsuna was like this. He sounded like he was somewhere far away.

"You don't need many people to play them." Tsuna muttered, bitter smirk on his face. Dino's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything. Something was definitely wrong, but Dino trusted that Tsuna would tell him himself, so he didn't say anything.

(The six Skies, (Tsuna, Xanxus, Dino, Enma, Yuni and Byakuran), had an extraordinary bond that could not be cut easily. They were allies, skies and friends, ('Annoying trashes, that were hard to get rip off' if you asked Xanxus), but they were also a family. They couldn't tell each others what to do as they pleased, or stop each others from doing something stupid, (Like stealing Hibird from Hibari. Byakuran still had some bruises), but they could offer their advice and options on matters, and give their support while trying to help each others to the safer baths from afar.)

(After all, there wasn't one _'right'_ road. Not to them at least. They were part of the mafia for crying out loud! But they were alive, and that's what counts.)

(As bosses, they couldn't shield the younger ones, (aka Tsuna, Enma and Yuni), completely from the darker and crueller times. They could just help them to stand proud and tall as the enemy came closer, but after it was over, then they were the best support and security they could ask for.)

(There was a complete and utter trust and understanding between all Skies, and there was an unspoken agreement between them. If you hit one of them, (no matter if it was one of their Famiglia or Guardians,) you would get ALL of them to beat you up. They were pack, pride and a herb, and they didn't tolerate any kind of hostility towards any of their own.)

(And yes, even Byakuran was part of it.)

Tsuna looked to the space for quite a while, before finally, he looked back at Dino, his eyes lost and tired. Dino's face softened, and he raised his arm over Tsuna's shoulders, and bulled the teenager closer to himself. Tsuna didn't resist, he leaned against Dino, and closed his eyes, relaxing against the warm embrace as he lowered his head on top of Dino's shoulder.

"Ne, Tsuna, what's wrong?" Dino asked gently, and Tsuna finally broke down. He started trembling and hiccupping as hot tears started to stream down his face, wetting Dino's shoulder, but he didn't mind.

"Shhh, It's alright, I'm here. Shhhs" Dino calmly soothed as Tsuna pressed his face against Dino's shoulder, griping his white T-shirt like his life depended on it. Dino just hugged Tsuna and petted his head as the eighteen year old cried onto his shoulder. Tsuna didn't wail, he didn't sob or scream, he just cried silently as Dino hold him.

"Shhhs, everything is fine going to be fine, I promise. Have I ever broke my promise?" Dino kept talking, slowly calming Tsuna down enough for him to stop trembling and crying. He was still hiccupping, and his eyes were red. As Tsuna bulled away from the warm embrace, Dino gave Tsuna a tissue and Tsuna whipped his running nose.

"T-thanks Dino-nii..." Tsuna hiccupped and Dino nodded his head, acknowledging the gesture. Tsuna addressed Dino as 'nii', when he felt so small and weak that he could be a child who needed Dino's support and advice, and Dino didn't mind it.

"What happened?" Dino asked as he bulled Tsuna close to himself again. Tsuna hesitated a millisecond before telling Dino everything.

"...I... I-I don't get it Dino-nii... I-I have NEVER done a-anything to t-them... I k-know I was once n-no-g-good, and I would p-probably s-still be-e without Reborn, but... W-why? I've c-changed, I'm n-not that pathetic b-boy w-who would trip into air from t-time to time... But... T-they JUST WON'T STOP..." Dino had to give a mental check to his temper, it would do no good if he exploded in front of Tsuna.

"... I-I'm just so tired AT ALL OF THIS. N-no matter what I do, t-they won't give me a second chance. They w-won't b-believe that I'm d-different and that I could be S-SOMETHING!" Tsuna's sobbing was enough to break Dino's heart, but he didn't say a word, and let Tsuna to continue.

" .. N-no matter, w-when or w-where, I'm just too d-different... And e-even thought o-others have tried to stop it, t-they just keep going...It's like t-that in their eyes, I-I don't deserve to be happy..." That was the final straw to Dino, and before Tsuna got another word out, Dino grabbed hold of both of Tsuna's shoulders and looked straight into startled brown eyes.

"No Tsuna, YOU if anyone deserves to be happy. No matter what they say, YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG! _**They don't know anything!**_ You have been going through REBORN'S training, and SURVIVED!

YOU fought **Mukuro** , even thought you wanted to **have nothing** to do with the mafia, you _won_ and turned him into _a friend_!

You faced **Xanxus** , _saved Nono_ and _won the Ring conflict_ , **even thought you didn't want to become the boss candidate**!

You went to _the Future that Never Was_ , and defeated **Byakuran** , even thought you were _**scared witless**_ , and had _no idea_ of what was going on and all you wanted to do was _get back home_!

You fought with Enma, _fixed the misunderstandings, that had been going for centuries, between Simon and Vongola_ and **defeated Daemon Spade!** Hell, you even **broke the Arcobaleno curse!** Tsuna, YOU have done things that people have thought to be _impossible_!" Dino ranted, his voice full of pride, adoration and absolute honesty, and Tsuna couldn't deny a thing that he was saying.

"Tsuna, you have gone through SO much, none of those bastards could even dream about things that you have done! So never, NEVER BELIEVE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE RIGHT TO BE HAPPY."

Dino's voice was absolute, and he left no room for arguments. Tsuna just stared at Dino, dumbstruck for a good while, before his expression melted into a tearful mix of gratitude and happiness.

Dino smiled warmly, his eyes full of fondness and truth. "Tsuna, no matter what, your Guardians, Reborn, others and _**I**_ , **WE will ALWAYS be by your side. And to us, YOU are perfect as you are.** You have done **NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong**. You are the one who has been suffering from other people's mistakes."

Dino didn't regret a word. It was all true to the very core of him, and he wouldn't take those words back no matter what. He smiled as he let go of Tsuna's shoulders, and let out a small surprised gasp as Tsuna slammed onto him, and hugged him like there was no tomorrow.

"Thank you Dino-nii... Thank you." Tsuna whispered as Dino circled his hands around Tsuna, returning the hug. (Also trying to get the air move back into his lugs without worrying Tsuna. The teenager was MUCH stronger than he looked...)

* * *

 **Saturday morning...**

Next morning, as Xanxus, Enma, Yuni and Byakuran arrived to Japan, Tsuna and Dino were sound asleep on Tsuna's floor, half laying on the ground and half leaning against Tsuna's bed frame. Tsuna was using Dino as a pillow, as his head was against the blonde's chest, and he was laying on top of the older man. Dino had his head leaning against Tsuna's, and his arms were still around Tsuna protectively.

This was the position the other Skies found them when they arrived. Their eyes narrowed slightly when they saw tear tracks on Tsuna's face, and sent Dino a questioning/demanding glance as the Bronco opened his eyes as he sensed their presence. Dino gestured them to join them, meaning that he would explain later. Yuni giggled and immediately dived next to Tsuna on Dino's laps, as Dino raised his arm so she could join them. Enma hesitated, but slowly he flopped next to Dino, on Dino's left side so he was behind Tsuna's back and he lowered his head against Dino's shoulder.

Byakuran blinked few times, before chuckling and he made his way to the small dog pile. He made himself comfortable on Dino's other side, and gave Xanxus questioning, but amused look. Xanxus huffed and glared at marshmallow addicted idiot, who just chuckled and threw his hands up in surrender. Xanxus sat down to his throne, that had magically appeared next to Tsuna's bed. Tsuna's eyes momently stirred open, mostly still in sleep, but they closed soon enough again as others around him resumed him with their flames.

Even in his half awake and half asleep state, Tsuna could feel Xanxus' and Byakuran's flames purring and sifting protectively, while Yuni's and Enma's flames burned gently along with Tsuna's own, offering their comfort and support, soothing Tsuna's own, restless and somehow frightened flames. Dino's Sky flames gently, but firmly calmed down his nerves, putting him back to sleep.

They stayed there for the whole day, not moving an inch, expect for when it was time to eat. They just asked one of Dino's subordinates to get them some sushi. Tsuna, or anyone else for that matter, didn't question why there was bunch of mafia bosses in his room, and just took advance of their comforting presence. Children had decided to have sleep overs with Kyoko and Haru, so Tsuna didn't need to worry about them.

At evening, Dino and others left Tsuna sleeping peacefully in his bed, as they went to discuss about this matter in to the living room down stairs.

"So, mind telling us why you asked for us, Cavallone?" Byakuran chimed, his usual smirk over his face. His eyes narrowed however when he continued. "Does perhaps have something to do with Tsunayoshi's poor condition?"Dino nodded solemnly, gaining their attention. Xanxus narrowed his eyes and glared at Dino.

" **Talk**." he growled.

Dino went straight to the point, and told them how he found about Tsuna's bullies. As he talked, his Sky flames weren't the only ones to grow rather fierce. At the end of his explanation, they were all emitting dark aura.

"So Dino-nii, What should we do?" Yuni asked, just as serious as the rest of them. Dino's concerned frown turned into a mischievous grin that made Byakuran proud.

"How would you guys like to have some _**fun**_ with Tsuna's schoolmates? I already have Ivan and Michael running through the subjects." Those feral grins that they gave were answer enough.

* * *

 **Next week, Monday, Namimori...**

Tsuna sighed as he threw his school bag over his shoulder, it was time to get back to the rotes. Dino and other Skies had left the other day before Tsuna woke up, after spending whole day just talking about their _plan_ \- and no, Tsuna didn't remember a thing about the last weekend.

'Uuuuh... Did Dino-san drug me or something?... Nah, he never would.' Tsuna shrugged the thought of as he shook his aching head. (Ah, so naïve Tsuna. Dino did in fact but some alcohol into Tsuna's pizza. How else he was supposed to get the younger male to drop the mask and let all that shit out?)

Tsuna hummed himself as he walked towards Nami high. 'Huh, weird. Normally Hayato and Takeshi would joined me by now...' Tsuna thought, concerned. But his Hyper Intuition wasn't reacting so it probably wasn't anything important.

'Takeshi I can understand, he is probably skipping and doing last weeks homework. Maybe Hayato is sick?' Tsuna didn't get much further with his thoughts before a red Ferrari pulled in front of him. The shotgun seat's door opened in front of him and he saw Romario's face on the driver's seat.

"Eh?! Romario-san, why are you here? And where is Dino-san?" Tsuna exclaimed, and Dino's head bopped into sight.

"Yo, Little bro! We will be here for a while, and since our weekend was so short, I called and asked if Reborn minded if I stole you from school." Dino grinned at Tsuna's shocked/horrified/awe-struck face, and let out small laugh. "He said it was fine as long as you got at least 100 from the next Italian's test, and few others." Now Tsuna's face was clearly horrified.

"I am going to die..." Tsuna moaned, but got into car anyway. "So, where we are gonna go first?" Tsuna asked with small amused sigh as he put his safe belt on. Dino grinned at Tsuna's antics and nodded to Romario when Tsuna slammed his door shut.

'Success!' Dino yelled in his head. He grinned at Tsuna as he answered. "Oh, you'll see. But I'm going to give you a hint, you know the place." Tsuna pouted and started running through places he knew in his head.

What Tsuna didn't see, was that Dino texted a short message and sent it while he was thinking. 'First pace, done.'

* * *

 **In Namimori high...**

Xanxus' phone lighted up and he looked down at the short message got from the bronco. "Got him" it said. Xanxus got a feral grin on his face as he raised his gun towards the sky, and shot. Everyone in the campus heard the shot, but only few saw the bright, majestic Flames of Wrath.

One man with a black fedora and orange band around it smirked as his green companion jumped excitedly on his hat. "Hm, I trained you well Idiot-Dino." He hummed and disappeared into the shadows.

The tenth generation of Vongola got feral smirks/grins on their face as the plan was kicked into motion.

"Kufufufufufu, this will definitely help to drown my boredom." Mukuro chuckled as he disappeared into his Mist on the rooftop.

Sasagawa Ryohei and Hibari Kyoya stood by the school gate, eyes glinting. Hibari silently left towards the headmaster's office, while Ryohei went to the fields.

There was a need for some _**extreme biting to death**_.

"Gyahahah! The great Lambo-sama shall get his revenge! No one bullies Tsuna-nii and get away with it!" Lambo snickered as he and kids run through the hallways. "Un!" Fuuta and I-pin nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **In the class 1-B...**

"Okay class, normally you would have Sasaki-sensei, but unfortunately she fell down some stairs and broke her leg." The class cheered, to which the teacher glared them for, before composing himself. "Which is why, you will have Squalo-sensei and his assistants in gym class. Our other teachers have had rather bad luck as well, so you have several other people teaching you today. You held no less respect to them than you have for any other teachers." Class started whining, expect for few students.

Teacher's face turned red as he listened the class' whining, before he demanded for silence.

"QUEIT, YOU UNGRATEFUL FOOLS! IS THAT HOW YOU BAY BACK ALL THE EFFORT OUR SCHOOL'S TEACHERS PUT IN TEACHING YOU?! HALF OF THE SHCOOL TEACHERS IS EITHER IN HOSPITAL FOR GREAT INJURIES OR RARE, DEATLY SICKNESESS! Reboro-sensei himself recommended these teachers, and he said he would come here to see the effect himself! Do you know what a great honour that is?!"

As teacher went on and on with his rant, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Chrome, Haru, Kyoko and Hana felt small grins forming on their face, but they quickly con-sealed them.

Oh they would **sooooo** enjoy this.

* * *

Namimori High's class 1-B's gym class started in familiar fashion, class went out and got ready. They were warming up in the field, waiting for their new teacher to come.

"VOOOOOOOIIIII! YOU CALL THAT WARMING UP?! MY GRAMMOTHER WOULD DO BETTER THAN YOU, AND SHE IS 6 FEET UNDER!" The whole class, well minus Vongola group, jumped at least a foot into air as a loud man in leather jacket and long silver hair came to the field. "VOOOIIIII, GET YOUR ASSESS MOVING THERE! EIGHTY FUCKING ROUNDS AROUND THE FIELD YOU SHITS!"

"Um... I'm sorry but who are you...?" Yamamoto and Gokudera tried hard to keep straight face when Squalo turned his 'I-said-move-you-little-shit' glare at the idiot who opened his mouth. Squalo marched up to the fool and growled lowly.

"OI, What's your name, trash?" The male student who had spoke up was shaking from head to toe, regretting his whole being and he looked ready to wet himself. He did manage to stutter out his name, which got some respect from Chrome. (Well, more like pity. Idiot just put the last nail onto his coffin.)

"A-A-Akido R-R-Ren..." Squalo leaned closer to his face and started raising his voice closer to it's normal volume.

"Well, AKIDO FUCKING REN, I'M SQUALO SUPERVI, YOUR TEACHER FOR TODAY! AND I TELL YOU, I HAVE SEEN WORMS WHO ARE SMARTER, AND SNAILS THAT MOVE FASTER THAN YOU MACCOTS!" While the poor guy was becoming deaf, Yamamoto and Gokudera were enjoying the show very much. Squalo lowered his voice again, not that the rest of class had any problems on hearing him.

"So _**if I**_ were one of _**you**_ _**little shits**_ , I would run. _**Now**_." And the whole class started to run like the devil himself was after them, which wasn't all that far off. Yamamoto and Gokudera went along, but they caught Squalo's eyes as they ran past him and they could tell that the Shark commander was also enjoying himself greatly. They gave a brief nods, showing their agreement.

And for the first time in the whole school's history, all students completed the laps they were given, even in the record time.

After the laps, almost the whole class fell down to the ground, exhausted, expect for Yamamoto, Gokudera, Chrome, Kyoko, Haru and Hana. Boys weren't even breathing hard, and Chrome was little winded by the laps, but other wise fine. Haru was also breathing little harder and sweating little, but she was also in a pretty good shape. Kyoko and Hana were sweating, but not that much, or well, Hana was and she was breathing little harder, but other wise she was fine.

"Y-Yama...Moto... What the... Heck?" One of their classmates choked out, as he looked at them with exhausted eyes.

"Ahahaha, What? It was just few laps. That's nothing." Yamamoto laughed as he scratched the back of his head. Gokudera had neutral look over his face as he glared at the rest of the class.

"Tch, weaklings." Gokudera muttered, tipping off the rest of male students and making Yamamoto laugh.

"Hahaha, come on Hayato, their not weaklings. We're just really strong." (That was a lie, Yamamoto actually agreed with Gokudera.) The class paused for a sec, as Gokudera and Yamamoto continued their one sided argument.

"A-anyway, I expected Yamomoto and Gokudera to be fine, but Sagawa, Kurowa, Miura and Dokuro too?!" One guy with round glasses exclaimed, and many voiced their agreement. Yamamoto's eyes narrowed slightly, and Gokudera's shoulders tensed. Girls saw this, and glanced at each others.

"Ah, Onii-san felt restless about leaving me when he went to school in Tokyo, so he taught me few things and I've been training for a while." Kyoko explained with a smile, and then she pointed at Haru, Hana and Chrome. "They have been training with me, since they also wanted to know some self-defence."

It was true, but what she didn't mention, was that they had asked for guys and Reborn to help them. They had been happy to help, and the process had been positive.

They watched with a little satisfaction as the whole class shut up, and tried to process what they just heard. Some guys started to tear up as they thought about their school idols turning into masculine bodyguards and went straight to sobbing, others just stayed in shock and others nodded along.

"VOOOI! WHAT ARE YOU SITTING THERE FOR?! UP, UP, UP! MOVE YOUR ASSESS!" The class jumped up with groans but that stopped with another "Voi!" from Squalo. The six who knew what was coming jogged to the second of the Varia, small smirks on their lips.

Squalo wasn't alone at the centre of the field, and the class gaped at the familiar white haired man who was sparing with a male who had a tight black top and black cargo pants, along with black boots. He had sunglasses and very colourful mohawk.

"I-is that... Sasagawa-sempai?" Yamamoto, Gokudera, Haru, Chrome, Kyoko and Hana started a count down in their heads.

'1...'

"And is he sparring with that man, or are they trying to kill each others?"

'2...'

"And is Squalo-sensei trying to hit them with a sword...?"

'3.'

.

.

.

"WAIT A SEC, WHAT?!" It took all they had not to start laughing. (But they _did_ snicker at their classmates' expressions.)

* * *

 **On the other side of town...**

"Come on Dino-san, cut it. Where are we?" Tsuna laughed as he tried to take Dino's hands off from his eyes.

"No way! That would ruin the surprise!" Dino chimed back, making Tsuna huff amused. Finally giving up, he crossed his hands while smiling. "Okay, I give up."

"Aw, come one! That's no fun! Come on little bro, It's easy! You should recognise it!" Dino whined playfully, making Tsuna pout.

"How am I supposed to recognise something without seeing anything?" Tsuna laughed, making Dino laugh too.

"I guess that's pretty hard. Try to listen." Dino hinted, as he leaded Tsuna through the crows. As Tsuna kept on guessing, thought he had an idea where they were going, Dino looked for red hair from the crowd, before he finally spotted two people he was looking for.

"Okay Tsuna, I have two people who you would like to see, but try to guess who they are first." Dino snickered as Tsuna pouted at him.

"Oh, for the love of...Okay, but can I get hints?" Tsuna pleaded, making Dino laugh harder as they got closer to the teens.

"Nope. You should know who they are soon enough." Dino said in sing-song tune, making Tsuna frown slightly. But soon enough the frown dropped along with his yaw as he felt one familiar Sky flame lighting up happily at his presence and one Earth flame's warmth.

"YUNI, ENMA!" Tsuna exclaimed and Dino let go of his eyes, letting Tsuna have look at his two friends who smiled and waved at him.

"Hi Tsuna-nii, long time no see!" Yuni laughed as Tsuna gave her a firm hug. Tsuna turned to look at Enma when he heard his soft chuckle.

"Nice to see you Tsuna." Enma grinned, giving Tsuna back his firm hug. Tsuna laughed along as he stepped back to greet them.

"Nice to see you guys too! It's been a while!" Dino sweat dropped behind them at that. 'You met them last weekend... Thought it's better if you don't know that.' Dino thought inwardly as he grinned at Tsuna.

"Well, aren't you going to show us around? I've never been in this amusement park." Dino grinned as Tsuna laughed and dragged them along into the park.

Dino, Enma and Yuni were supposed to work as distraction for Tsuna, as the plan went along. Xanxus, Byakuran and their guardians along with Arcobalenos were at school, giving the students and teachers all alike a rather ... unique school day.

Of course, they had let Tsuna's guardians into their plan too. It was no fun if they couldn't help.

Dino may not have been the most impressive and smartest mafia boss in the world, but he was still the boss of Cavallone famiglia, damn it. And Vongola was their ally, Dino wouldn't look it through his fingers if the young boss was looked down upon by his peers. Besides, Dino had been the first one to get as attached to Tsuna as he was now, and he wasn't about to let his little brother to get kicked around.

He wouldn't be the one to stand under the spot light however. No, he was more contend to stay in the shadows and look after Tsuna from there.

(Dino may not have had as much succeed as Tsuna, but he was still Reborn's student. And he was the first one, so he was bound to pick up few things up from him. And Reborn was more than little satisfied about this.)

'Hopefully, Tsuna won't be too mad with us afterwards….' Dino thought with a grin as Tsuna asked what ride they would want to try first.

* * *

 **Done! SO, what do you guys think? I think I did good. As the description says, I will write bunch of one-shots about our Skies. It will be a combination of manga and anime, so don't be too surprised. If you got any requests, bring them on!**

 **Until next time, bye!**


	2. Experience is the best teacher

**Chapter 2**

 **WARNING! Handles family troubles and slightly abuse, on both human and animals. If you feel triggered by any of these, please read with your own responsibility.**

 **Otherwise, enjoy!**

* * *

All families have their problems.

Some more so than others, but they aren't any less serious than the rest. It doesn't matter if it's about unfaithfulness of the family's parent figures, or a fight over something trivial, that could have been solved if it would have been talked about. The fact is, that they all effect all members of the family, both big and small. There is no excuses for the trauma or fear that it leaves on to a child and on to an adult. The second this happens, the balance is broke, and the sense of security, belonging and trust shakes, if not completely disappears. (Beautiful things like peace are just so, so fragile...)

Dino knew this very well.

When he was small, his mother was very ill, and she was doomed to die in an early age. Dino had very few clear memories of his mother, and even fewer of them included his father. While Dino's mother had been ill and weak, she had been determined to spent as much time with her son as possible. She had tried to be part of Dino's life as much as she could, often threatening her own health.

This hadn't sat well with Dino's dad.

Dino's father was often too busy to spent much time with him. And whenever there would be civilian convervasation, mafia would be dragged into it in one way or other, much to his mother's dislike. It didn't take much to see that Dino's father was more proud of his Familigia, than he was of his own son. His wife however, the man loved from the bottom of his heart. And it enraged him that the love of his life was wasting her own health and love on his useless son.

Dino remembers clearly, how he had stand behind his parent's bedroom, listening them yelling at each others after his mother had taken Dino into a Zoo, even when she should have been laying in a bed.

Dino had understood, _had known_ , that it wasn't good for his mother to walk around so much, but he had been _so_ happy... He had thought his mother had been well, and he had wanted nothing more than to show his mother all of the beautiful and cool animals. He had been very excited, and he had even asked one of the servants to tell him about the animals in the Zoo. Dino had wanted to impress his mom with his knowledge. He just wanted her to be proud of him...

But then she had started coughing and wheezing, and they had to come back, with the help of the servants, since she wasn't able to walk back. Dino had been so, so, so, so scared... Even his mother's sweet smiles and promises of being fine didn't resume him, and he had been down right terrified when his father had entered the room. Dino had bolted out when his father snarled at him to scram, but he had sent her mother one last concerned look before exiting.

Dino understood later that his father had been worrying sick about his mother, but at the time, it had been just terrifying for Dino to see his father around his mother. He had feared that his father would slash out on her, and he had often almost had a panic attack at evening when he was told that he had to leave his mother's side and go to bed. His father and mother often argued about his mother's safety and health, and almost every time mafia was dragged into the argument, leaving Dino a bad after taste on the word itself. (Not that mafia should have been something else.)

In the end, it was the stress and depression that killed her. Dino remembers that his father had been drunk for days, not even once acknowledging Dino, unless he wanted to rant or throw something at him. Luckily, people like Romario helped and shielded him from the worst things. The old boss never really got over his grief, as he slowly lost most of his common sense. HHe started addressing Dino as his _HEIR_. Not as a son.

This had been the final blow on Dino's sense of balance, making him lose his sense of security, along with the family that had brought him his sense of trust and safety.

(This showing as his clumsiness later on. He couldn't truly relax. The reason he become a complete mess without his men, was because he felt anxiety, stress and sense of loss overcoming him without them. While he knew he was more than able to defence himself, a small part of him felt sense of helplessness. He needed to have them close, not only because of his helplessness, but because he feared they would _leave_ him.)

Skies that lose their balance and trust on family, also lose their sense of Acceptance. It wasn't that Dino was too weak or immature to have his own Guardians, it was that his flames were too unstable and so incapable of accepting and calling any other Elements.

Broken Skies were normally very troublesome and dangerous. They had no place to go, no place to return, and they felt too unsecured to trust anyone. Weaker ones usually die very soon after breaking. But the others aren't so lucky. They are left to wander around, with no real direction. Some lose their mind, and while some are able to keep their sanity, they are never the same. While they aren't complete lunatics, they don't often turn out to be completely fine either.

This was partly a reason why there were so few Skies, since only few had the true Will of a Sky to survive.

Dino had been lucky to meet Squalo when he did. The friendship he had formed with the swordsman had made him relax a little, thought it hadn't been nearly enough. This was also why he was happy that Reborn had straightened him up, even when the other had undoubtedly felt how unbalanced he was. Reborn couldn't get rip off all of his tress and fear, but he could get Dino to push it aside.

And then he met Tsuna. **_(His peace/balance/safety)_**

Tsuna, who was just as stressed, anxious, awkward and unconfident as he had been when he was young. (He still was.) But the different between them, was that while Tsuna was messed up, his Sky flames hadn't been broken. Tsuna still had the sense of balance and acceptance, even if he wasn't aware of it. Dino had been so relieved that Tsuna already had most of his elements, but he had also been a little jealous, as he knew he would never be able to experience that himself. He would always remain broken, even if he was more put together than he had been.

(Oh how wrong one can be...)

But Tsuna wasn't completely 'fine' either. Tsuna was A Sky, who had been forced to bow his head to others when he didn't want to. He had been pushed around by his peers, and slowly but surely they had taken away his self-confidense. And when he finally was able to mainteim the role forced on him, the mafia had come and told him to be something completely different.

Dino made it his duty to help Tsuna however he could. Whenever he was a mafia boss or not, he was Dino's brother in everything but blood. (The only thing that didn't really matter that much.)

So when he came for a surprise visit, only to find the whole house full of tension, he got on edge. (Thank you to whatever deity that had sent Nana to go shopping with kids...)

They were in the living room, with Iemitsu at the end that was closer to the doorway, and Tsuna at the other end. Dino apsentmindly realized that there was no one else in the whole house, as he came in, Romario following on his steps. He wondered lightly where Reborn was.

The young lion's stand was relaxed, bored even, but there was just something about him that made him look naturally firm and imitating. (Or, well, that was how it was supposed to look like. Dino and Romario had seen far worse things to be imitated by Iemitsu.) His face was blank, completely washed of any feelings or thoughts he may have had. Dino wasn't all that surprised, no matter how goofy or dumb Iemitsu may be, he was still the leader of CEDEF. And it did show.

Tsuna, on the other hand was completely terrified. His stand was wide and stiff, and defensive. It looked like the seventeen year old was ready to jump and fly any second if needed, which itself was alarming. He had both of his arms by his sides, hands bulled into fists, and they shook slightly from anxiety and fear. Even his hair had stood to the very end, like a scarred cat's. But while his whole body showed how nervous and afraid Tsuna was, _(AFRAID OF HIS OWN FATHER_ ), his face was what Dino took note of.

His chocolate brown eyes were gleaming as orange as a sunset and they showed his determination. His lips were on a firm frown, showing that he was serious.

 **"No."** Tsuna growled and straighned up a little. **"I won't make you my Second in comand."**

" **Tsuna** , we have talked about this. You can't have just anyone to take up that spot. You need someone trust worthy, brave, intelegent and loyal to the famiglia, who can balance their resboncipility and duties-"

"Exactly." Tsuna cut in. "They have to complete opposite of you."

Tension that rose could have been cut with a knife, and Dino SWORE, that he saw small icicles forming around Iemitsu.

".. What do you mean by that?" Iemitsu demanded, his voice made of ice and steel, and with eyes that were sharper than Squalo's sword. Tsuna stopped shaking, and hee stared down at his father defiantly, full of anger and confidence.

"You ask my Second in command to be all that, when you are completely opposite. Trust worthy? You lie to mom even now, when she knows that I'm going to be the Tenth boss of Vongola. Intelligent? You were so damn stupid to think that I would just accept you after you were gone out of my life for _over ten years_! Loyal to the Famiglia? _You were ready to kill the next HEIR!_

 **ABLE TO BALANCE THEIR DUTIES AND RESBONCIPILITY?! YOU NECLAGED YOUR DUTY AS A FATHER AND LEFT! YOU IGNORED YOUR RESBONCIPILITY TO HELP MOM TO RAISE ME! YOU ABUSED YOUR POSITION AS CEDEF, AND CHOOSE MY GUARNIANS WITHOUT MY OWN KNOWLEDGE OR AGREEDMENT FOR THAT MATTER**!" Tsuna was ROARING at that point, and Dino could SEE the pure Sky flames flaring and raging around him. Tsuna took a deep breath, and looked Iemitsu into eyes, daring him to defy him.

"Tell me, _WHY IN THE HELL_ , would I choose you as my Second in command?" Iemitsu looked shocked, enraged and just... Upset. Before CEDEF chief could muster up any excuses, Dino decided to step in.

"Tsuna, Iemitsu. I believe that's enough." He calmly stated, completely neutral. Both stiffened a little to his sudden appearance, but Tsuna soon relaxed after realising it was him. Iemitsu on the other hand tensed further.

"Iemitsu, I believe you don't mind if I steal my little brother for rest of the day?" Iemitsu's flames bristled like the fur of an enraged lion's, but after realing that he was cornered and Dino had the upper hand, the Young Lion just nodded bitterly. Tsuna's eyes lit up, and he made his way past Iemitsu with confidence and ease that hadn't been there before.

When Dino was sure that Tsuna was upstairs and couldn't hear them, he turned to glare at the CEDEF.

"A word of a warning, Young Lion. You are blind and deaf, walking on thin ice, and there is no knowing of when the ice will crack." Dino stated, and Iemitsu send him somehow controlled glare, but it was clear that man was tired.

"So it may be, but tell me, what can I do? I can't find a safe spot, no matter how I look. I'm doomed to fall through." Iemitsu muttered, sending a little weary look towards upstairs. Dino stepped in front of his line of vision.

"Then slide or roll. Study the ice, find the cracks, and go around them. Don't try to fill them, that's the duty of the weather." Dino calmly answered, and turned around as he went to front door, leaving Romario on guard duty to make sure that the Young Lion stayed in line.

On the outside, he was almost run over by the Lightning Guardian.

"Dino-nii! Why are you here?!" Lambo crackled as he, I-Pin and Fuuta hugged him. Dino chuckled as he ruffled their hair.

"Huh? Can't I come to check on my kid brothers and sister every now and then?" Dino grinned as Fuuta chuckled and Lambo and I-Pin laughed happily, dodging his hands that tried to catch them.

"Of course you can! The great Lambo-sama is always happy to see his servants!" Lambo crackled, making I-Pin roll her eyes. Fuuta looked up to him, before he frowned a little for some reason.

"You came for Tsuna-nii, didn't you?" Two other kids stiffened when they realized this, and they hung their heads. Dino scratched his head awkwardly.

"Uh, you got me... I promise I'll take you to ice-cream next time?" They perked up immediately.

"Alright kids, take the groceries inside and say bye to Tsuna!" Nana gently edged them on, and all three nodded cheerfully before going in. Nana's gentle smile turned into a worried frown when they close the door and she turned to Dino.

"They had a fight, didn't they?" Dino sighed. 'No use to try to hide it from Mama...'

Nana was probably the biggest airhead on earth, but when it came to her family, she was surprisingly sharp. She knew instantly when Tsuna found out that his father was indeed alive, that they wouldn't get along all that well. But she didn't say anything, living in hope that they would figure it out themselves.

Obviously, this hasn't happened.

Dino nodded solemnly, as he explained what had happened. He knew that it would be waste of time to try to hold something back from her, and she deserved to hear about her husband's and son's inflamed relationship. Besides, Dino wanted to help them to get along.

Nana and Dino had formed a team; Dino would speak to Tsuna, and help him understand things from his father's point of view, while Nana soothed Iemitsu and tried to show him how much he had missed out while working in Italy. But it was still up to those two to decide when ever they wanted to get along or not.

* * *

"I see..." Nana closed her eyes and sighed, she had feared something like this would happen, and she had wanted to have the kids away from the explosion. She looked up to Dino with a smile. "Take care of my boy, will you Dino-kun?"

Dino smiled his usual charming smile. "Don't I always?" And then, like a charm, Tsuna stepped out with his backbag. "Ready to go, little brother?"

"Yeah. Bye, Mom." Tsuna smiled warmly at Nana and she returned the smile, and they shared a warm hug. (When did her little boy become as taller her? How time flew...)

"Take care you two!" She laughed as her son almost face planted to the ground.

* * *

As Dino had started to visit Namimori so often, he had decided to just make himself a villa. It was little ways off from Namimori, and it was surrounded by fields and forest. It also had a pool and stables. Well, Cavallones were known for their great horses in the business world, so it was no wonder that Dino had grown around them. Cavallones owned over 3000 horses, and Dino could easily name all of them from top of his head. While he had always been clumsy on his feet without his men, on horse back, he was a completely different man.

It was probably because his mother loved horses. She had taught him how to ride a horse when he was three, and he always felt a little closer to her on horse back.

"Sooooo..." Dino started as they sat on the fence of a pasture. There were few horses grazing around, one of them with a golden brown coat, and black mane and tail. The other one was completely white, but it had brown spots all over, like it was covered in mud.

"Yeah?" Tsuna asked absently, baying more attention to the horses than to Dino. He didn't mind, as he knew that the young heir would bring his attention to his senior soon enough.

"What happened?" Sure enough, Tsuna stiffened, and looked to the ground. "I know that you fought, so it will be no use hiding it."

Tsuna sighed before he returned his gaze to the horses. "Dino-san, do you know how frustrating it's to deal with him? He was the worst father in history, and then he leaves, only to return after over ten years of absence! And then he thinks he has some saying in my business or in my life, like he never left me and mom."

That was all he had meant to say, but since he had already submitted...

"And he is so, so stupid! He thinks that if he just comes around, smiling like an idiot for few weeks and telling his lies, mom and I will just accept that?! He is so damn Argonaut! He does nothing but drink and sleep when he comes home, and mom just puzzles around him like a bee! He even fooled kids!" Dino says nothing, but he watches as Tsuna starts to pace around while ranting.

Finally Dino decided to cut in. "Tsuna, has Reborn told you why Skies are so rare?" Tsuna pauses to think.

"Something, yeah. Why?" Tsuna asked, finally returning to his seat next to Dino. Dino smiles inwardly. 'Thanks Reborn...'

 _ **'You are welcome baka-Dino.'**_ Dino blinks and shook his head before returning his attention back to Tsuna. 'Must be my imagination...'

"They are so rare, because only about one quarter of the natural born Skies have the True Will of The Sky." Tsuna made a confused face, and Dino chuckled. "Skies are usually the bosses, correct? Now, do you know why this is?" Tsuna thought about it a little.

"Because it brings other Elements together and leads them?" Tsuna tried, and he beamed when Dino gave an approving nod.

"True, but that's not the main reason. It's because of Sky's main personality. To be a Sky, one must be Accepting*." Dino explained, and Tsuna took more comfortable position on the grass.

"Sky has to be able to Accept Element's want to protect it, in order for it to offer them it's Harmony. And while Elements do protect the Sky, the Sky has to be able to defence it's Elements too. A Sky that can't stand in the front but hides behind it's Elements, is a weak. Or that's the impression it gives."

"In mafia world, it's damn hard to find someone who can be as trusting or accepting as a Sky. Let alone someone who is both mentally and physically strong enough to be one. But what really makes a Sky, well, Sky, is their Harmony." Dino paused slightly as he sighed and he turned his gaze to the horizon. "But that Harmony can be Broken."

"But... Wouldn't that basically mean breaking them as person?" Tsuna asked as a cold shiver run through him, and Dino nodded slightly.

"To break a Sky's Harmony, you need to take away their sense of trust, safety and balance. Skies like that are called as Broken Skies." Tsuna followed Dino's movements carefully, trying to study him. "But a Sky can be broke many ways. One way is to take them away from their closed ones, other to make them feel insecure about themselves..."

Dino trailed of, glancing at Tsuna. The teenager looked a little too pale for his liking, so Dino ruffled his hair slightly, and Tsuna leaned into the touch. They just observed the pair of horses, that had started a game of tag, and quietly sat there.

"But really, the worst way to break a very prideful Sky, is to make them submit to another, more powerful Sky." Dino finally hinted, and Tsuna observed him slightly as he processed this new information.

"A Broken Sky is dangerous. They often lose their will to live, or they become dangerous to themselves and to others around them. Most of them die within a month." Dino's voice was grave, and he felt need to be alone, but he pushed it out of his mind. Broken or not, he was a damn Sky, and he needed to make Tsuna understand this, before it was too late. Tsuna could still make things work out for him and his father.

"Some survive, but they will never be the same. And after breaking, a Sky becomes incapable of calling or accepting other Elements. Well, they _CAN_ synchronise, but it's very risky game, as a Broken Sky doesn't have as good control over their flames as most, and they can't synchronise with more than one."

"... Can they be healed?" Tsuna quietly questioned, and Dino _HAD TO_ smile. 'Oh Tsuna...'

(Later, Dino would be so glad that Tsuna was as kind and caring as he was.)

"Some can be. But it's not an easy road. It requires lots of patience, strong Elements (Especially strong Sun), that are willing to synchronise with the Broken Sky, while staying loyal to their own Sky, who would synchronise with the Broken one and offer his or her own Harmony, and sheer will." Tsuna looked at the ground thoughtfully. "But a word of warning, if you don't know what to look for, they can be surprisingly hard to find."

Tsuna eyed him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"If a Sky is Broken, it doesn't usually show much on the outside. A strong Element can feel it however, and they try to avoid them mostly, not wanting to be dragged down with them. But if you feel around their flame core, you can definitely feel the cracks. It's like...Well..." Dino sighed, before closing his eyes and calling his flames. "Look at my core."

Tsuna was confused, but did as he was told after Dino's flames gently encouraged him to. Also closing his eyes, Tsuna felt his own, pure orange Sky flames gently dancing around Dino's. Tsuna gasped in horror when he felt around Dino's core. It was beating calmly, like Dino's heart and flames, but the cracks... They weren't wide, (anymore), but there were so many, that Tsuna thought he was touching a fragile china vase. Retreating his flames and opening his eyes, Tsuna turned to gaze Dino in horror.

Dino just gave a guilty smile. "It's fine. Thanks to Squalo and Reborn, I didn't break completely. I'm Cracked one at the best."

Tsuna made a mental note to thank them later.

"But I'm not the only Broken Sky _you_ know." Tsuna looked surprised, and Dino decided that it was still fine to continue. "Vongola's Young Lion for example is pretty beat up too."

There was a looooong pause.

Dino looked down to Tsuna, beam of sweat forming in the back of his head. Tsuna was looking at him with a blank look. His eyes were unfocused, like he was looking somewhere far away...

Sighing, Dino jumped down from the fence. "Look, I'm not telling you to FORCE yourself to become best friends with him." And Tsuna was focusing again. "You see that horse, with brown spots?" Tsuna nodded, and Dino whistled.

Both horses stopped their game and turned their head to him, and raced towards them. Tsuna let out terrified 'HIIEE!' and jumped behind the fence, but the horses slowed down before coming closer. They both neighed softly as they let Dino pet their snouts, and Dino chuckled. He looked over his shoulder to look at Tsuna, who had managed to somehow stand up and was now studying the horses warily.

"Don't worry, they won't bite." Dino laughed lightly, as he ruffled the spotted ones mane. "This is Tempesta*. And the brown one is Sole*."

Tsuna looked between them warily. Their names were pretty fitting if you asked Tsuna. Tempesta was clearly more vigorous and bulkier than Sole, who looked pretty laid back and chill.

'GAH! Dino-san, you know I'm not good with animals...' Tsuna felt cold sweat starting to slide on the back of his head, but he took a calming breath. 'It's fine, Dino-san wouldn't want any harm to me... I trust him..'

Sensitively, Tsuna reached out to pet Sole, and she leaned her head into the touch. Tsuna smiled a tag, and Dino grinned in pride.

"See? She is kind as a lamp." Tsuna shrugged slightly, as he kept petting Sole. Dino smiled as he rubbed Tempesta's neck.

"You know, when I first got them, they were complete opposites." Tsuna looked at Dino who studied the stallion who was pacing around a little, like it knew what Dino was talking about.

Sole stood by Tsuna, letting him pet herself in order for Tsuna to relax. "Their previous owner had abused them, and by the time I got to them, Sole over there was aggressive and protective as a mare can be, and Tempesta was shivering mess, and he was always hiding behind Sole."

Tsuna watched two horses in horror and wonder. "Then how you got them to turn out like this?"

"I didn't really DO anything." Dino confessed as he also watched them, though with his gaze was filled with fondness. "It was about two months before Reborn came. I had seen an article about an owner of some shady stable, that sold badly handled and abused race horses, being arrested and that most of the horses would probably bee put down. My blood just started to boil. I told Romario on that very same day that I had went and bought two horses. My dad was very... Displeased that I had gone and 'wasted' my money on two 'horrible' horses." Dino snorted.

"I spent every day with them, talking, cleaning stables, feeding them... Things like that. And there wasn't a day that I didn't get bitten, kicked and pushed around by these two, and I honestly lost the count of the times I thought about just stopping. But when Reborn came, I often went to them to calm down after a traumatizing event. It was the only place I could call my own, as no one was brave enough to come close to the place. I don't know when it happened, but suddenly, they were my best friends and the best race horses in the whole stables and I was the boss of Cavallone Famiglia." Dino grinned in pride and Tempesta let out a confident neigh. Dino glanced at Tsuna pointedly.

"I know it's hard, maybe even impossible, but at least TRY to get to know Iemitsu. Mafia fathers aren't often the best ones, but I know that Iemitsu could be worse. You just need to meet him on the half-way. It's better for both of you." Dino explained and Tsuna frowned slightly, but he nodded anyway. 'I will try... For Dino and mom, if nothing else.'

Dino grinned and ruffled Tsuna's hair. "That's what I'm talking about! Now, I believe Reborn has never taught you how to ride a horse?" Tsunayoshi SWORE, that Sole's and Tempesta's eyes flashed.

Tsuna instantly regretted coming to the field with Dino. (He didn't really. And he turned out to be okay. And Tempesta was WAAAAY easier than Sole.)

* * *

On the next weekend, Dino came for a visit and took the kids to the ice-creams he had promised. Nana sent Tsuna and Iemitsu to go too, "to get them have a fun day together." Until now, Dino hadn't been aware of Nana's sneakier side.

"Ahahah! Lambo-sama got the grape ice cream!" Dino laughed as kids happily ate their treats. I-pin had strawberry, while Fuuta and Dino had vanillas. Tsuna had take chocolate, along with Iemitsu.

"Heh, like the father like the son, huh?" Dino gently laughed, and Tsuna huffed at him. Iemitsu also laughed a little under his breath as he licked his ice cream. Dino noticed the mood and he nonchalantly moved a little further away with the kids. When they were out of earshot, Iemitsu turned to Tsuna.

"Umm... Tsuna? No, Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna frowned at his father, ready to take all the shots his father aimed at him and to return them if needed. He had promised to give the man a chance, but that didn't mean he would just submit-

"I'm sorry." Tsuna blinked several times as Iemitsu bowed slightly, still holding the chocolate ice cream.

"Hu-Huuuh?!" Tsuna exclaimed slightly, suddenly confused.

"I'm sorry. I should have thought that you will probably want to choose your own Second in command, instead of forcing myself on you." Iemitsu stated calmly, but Tsuna could tell he meant it. He sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"I forgive you. I'm also sorry for rising my voice." Iemitsu stood up, and there was a little awkward silence.

"... Does it hurt?" Tsuna questioned, while watching Dino and kids. Iemitsu blinked, and Tsuna clarified when he didn't answer fast enough. "Did it hurt to... Get your core Break?"

Iemitsu's eyes filled with understanding, and they softened as he also turned to look at the kids and tenth boss. "It felt like someone had ribbed a part of me out. When a Sky is forced to submit to another, they lose their confidence, and their harmony shakes."

"Why?"

"Because when a Sky submits to another, it's not qualified to protect it's elements. It loses it's purpose." Iemitsu chuckled bitterly. "Thought, I think I wasn't fitted to be a Sky from the start."

"But you aren't just a Sky." Tsuna insisted. "You are a leader and a husband."

Iemitsu glanced at Tsuna. **('When did he get so tall?')** "Your people from CEDEF don't respect you because you are a Sky. They respect you because of your experience and skills. Mom didn't marry you because you are a Sky. And while she could have had anyone else, she still chose you." Tsuna didn't look at Iemitsu as he started to walk towards Dino and kids.

"You are many things, but 'not fit to be a Sky' is not one of them." Iemitsu just stood there for a while, looking after his son, before he slowly smirked and started to follow him.

From shadows, Reborn smirked as he observed the scene to fold out. He knew Dino and Maman would do just fine. He was so proud. Both of his students had took yet another step to overcome their greatest weakness. (Not that he would voice it.)

(Years later, he would watch with a smile as Dino stood next to Tsuna, tall and proud like a (Sky) stallion he was suppose to be. He knew it from the start. That his students would complete one another, but they surpassed his expectations.)

(Squalo wondered who the hell started to sent him a box full of best hair products you could get every other month. Not that he was going to find out. Whatever was in those shampoos, they got dried blood, guts, _the damned wine_ etc. out of his hair like a magic. He wasn't going to question fate for it's small mercies.)

 _While beautiful things like peace may not last forever, things like love stand proud through the harshest storms. You just need someone to stand by you._

* * *

 **Hi everyone! WOW! Thank you soooo much for all the favorites and followers! It means so much to me that so many people want to read this. These two chapters mean really much to me.. You can't even imagine how much.**

 **I can easily relate to both Dino AND Tsuna. I was also little bullied by my peers, and older students when I was a kid, and I really feared something was wrong with me. I know most of them didn't mean anything bad but... Words hurt. Boys in my class used to tell me how annoying and high my voice was, and without realising it, I started to talk less.**

 **I still fear to talk too loudly, or to say what I want when I want, because I become so self conscious about my voice. But it's getting better.**

 **Also, my parents don't fight often, and I'm proud to be part of my family, but when we crash in my family, we CRASH. I started to write this as to went my frustration, but before I realised, it had become another chapter.**

 ***I got the idea of this flame theory from Rawr's Tumblr; KHR-Flame personality Characteristics. It's really good, go check it out if you can.**

 ***Tempesta: Storm**

 ***Sole: Sun**

 **Anyway, time to answer to the reviews!**

 **to luna0starlight: First of all, thank you for reviewing! It's really important to me! And don't worry, I'll write part two for chapter 1. Not just yet thought~**

 **to SpeirGhrian: Thank you to YOU! People like you and all of my other readers are why I want to write this. And yes, I know there can be some funny words there. I apologise for them, and I try to fix what I can. English isn't my mother language, and honestly? English and Finnish have absolutely NOTHING in common. Really. Nothing.**

 **Thank you again! I hope you liked this!**


	3. What it means to care

Chapter 3

"TSUNA! WHAT THE _HELL_ HAPPENED TO YOU?!"

Dino exclaimed when he saw his little brother standing by the door way, nose flowing with blood and his whole face covered in dried blood. His school uniform was ruffled and dirty, and it's front was completely red from the blood. Tsuna's face was white as a sheet, and he looked exhausted. All around, Tsuna looked like he had been on a hellish battle field.

Before Tsuna could even say hi, the older man had already appeared next to him, carefully examining him all around, trying to find any fatal injuries. Tsuna flinched a little when Dino attempted to touch his face, and bulled back slightly, making Dino's heart sink, and arise his flames close to the surface. Tsuna saw Dino's eyes sharpen, and puts his hands up in, what should have been, a calming gesture.

"Dino-san, it's fine-"

"No, it's not! This looks serious, how much blood you have already lost?" Dino growled as he searched for injuries, without another word, he gently but firmly pushed Tsuna into Sawada household's living room, and on to the couch.

Dino had come to Japan for his monthly training session with Kyoya. Dino had made a deal with Reborn that he would come for a week every other month to train Kyoya, whenever it was in combat or something else. The said teenager hadn't been delighted at first, but Dino had promised to tutor the Skylark, and he was damned if he wouldn't fulfil that promise. And eventually, Kyoya actually started looking forward to Dino's visits. _(Of course, only because he got to fight the horse carnivore. AND NOT BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY ENJOYED HIS COMPANY... Certainly not.)_

Dino had been in the middle of slightly tight situation with Kyoya, _(Damn brat had memorised his footwork, and had been getting too close for Dino's liking. He really didn't want to get hit by those tonfas. Or by those damn spikes...)_ when his phone rang. It had taken a little coaxing to get Kyoya stop long enough for Dino to answer the call, and by heavens, Dino swore that Kyoya had pouted when he stated that they would have a break. Dino had been surprised to see Tsuna's number flashing on his phone's screen, and he didn't think twice to answer.

"Tsuna, what can I do for you?" Dino greeted, pleasant to see from the corner of his eye that the dark haired demon in disguise leaned towards them eeeever so slightly to hear better. _(And nope, Dino didn't happen to turn the volume up just so Kyoya had better chance of hear his Sky's voice. His ears were just ringing from a nasty hit, and he couldn't hear well.)_

"Hello, Dino-san." Was Tsuna's ever so polite answer. "I was wondering, if you will be visiting Japan around the near future?"

Dino blinked at his little brother's overly hopeful- wait no, pleading- tone, but answered anyway. "Actually, I'm in Namimori right now."

There was a moment of silence from the other side of the line, but Dino was very sure he heard a long row of prayers being said in a very low and husky tone. "Umm... Is there a problem?"

"What? No! Nonononono, dear gods no!" Dino's eye brows almost reached his hair line as he listened the other stumbling over his words. "Just- Um.. Wait... If you'r in Japan... You are with Kyoya right? Could you pass the phone to him quickly? I have been trying to call him the whole day but he won't. Pick. It. Up..."

Dino chuckled at Tsuna's frustration and simply offered the device to the tense looking Cloud, who obviously heard his Sky. "Be my guest."

Kyoya glared at him silently as he snatched the phone and grunted, showing that he was listening. Dino couldn't hear what Tsuna was saying, but he saw swore he saw a mix of annoyance and... _Fear_? flashing in Kyoya's eyes. The other simply grunted few times, before he ended the call, _('RUDE! THAT'S MY PHONE!' Dino thought with a scowl.)_ and claimed that they were done for the day, and fleeting like his jacket was on fire. Thought Kyoya still possessed his usual grace.

Dino's eye brows rose further into his hair line as he re-called the brunet. "Well, I don't know what's going on but Kyoya left... I won't ask more about that... So, what did you want with me?"

"Umm, well, since you are already here, would you mind coming to my place? I have something that I want to talk about..." Dino was getting even more on edge now...

"Sure, see you in twenty." Then Dino realised that he was in middle of Namimori's forest, he had know idea where he was and he actually didn't have Romario with him. "Um.. You know what? I'll see you around lunch time."

"Fine by me, I still have some classes and things to do. But I'll see you then." Tsuna sounded awfully glad to hear that, Dino pondered as he ended the call and started to make his way through the wild life of Namimori's forest.

So that's how Dino ended up at Sawada house hold, only to find his completely beat up little brother opening the door to him.

"Dino-san-! DINO!" Dino halted to stop as the smaller teen hollered at him. After gaining his older brother's attention, Tsuna sighed and explained. "Dino, really, I'm fine. I was supposed to deliver my essay to my teacher, and I had twenty minutes to deliver it , and I tripped and rolled down three (different) sets of stairs at school, and I had a massive nosebleed because of that. But, I still got my essay to my teacher. Just me being clumsy, no harm done. But I scared my teacher enough for him to sent me back home, and I just got back."

Dino blinked once, then twice and thrice, before sighing in relief. "Well, in that case, please get yourself cleaned up. You scared the living day light out of me..."

Tsuna rolled his eyes but went towards the bathroom. "Be welcome to feel at home. There are some mom's cookies on the kitchen table."

"Dutifully noted!" Dino chirped as he made his way towards the threats.

And so, after twenty minutes and a plateful of Nana's cookies, now refreshed Vongola neo Primo, aka Vongola Decimo, aka Tsuna and Cavallone Decimo, aka Dino were both sitting in the small kitchen, calm and sober air around them.

"Now, I suppose you want an explanation, if I'm not mistaken?" Tsuna gave off a sheepish smile after earning a nod. "Well, you see, the thing is; I need your help. AND NO! This is not anything like the whole mess with Arcobalenos!"

Dino raised an eyebrow, while sagging in relief inwardly. While he'd do anything for his tutor or his little brother, ANOTHER world changing phenomenon so soon was pushing it pretty much. "Ooookay... What can I do?"

"Well, you see, there will be a ball held at Vongola's main residency, and the presence of the tenth Generation is required... So I kind of need your help to get Kyoya-san to Italia with the rest of us, without any massive problems or many hospital trips on the way, and to help me KEEP HIM THERE, until the event ends." Tsuna finally managed to get out, and Dino could only stare.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Tsuna, my little brother, can you say that again? I believe my hearing has gone bad." Dino laughed awkwardly, hoping that Tsuna was joking. "I thought you said you wanted ME to get KYOYA, the very same fighting obsessed maniac that was just beating my ass to tomorrow by the way, to ITALY, without any massive accidents or great hospital bills."

Tsuna just gave a pitiful puppy eyes, making Dino turn pale...

.

.

.

"... You own me a cake. A big cream cake, that's at least a half meter high, has lots of strawberries, and a cherry on top. Baked by no one else but Nana Sawada." Dino finally sighed, letting his head hit the table.

"YES! Yes, anything you want Dino!" Tsuna cheered, crying the tears of happiness as he hugged Dino, who was just hanging there like a rag doll. "THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOUUUU!"

"... You'll be the death of me..." Dino sighed, finally returning the hug. "By the way, who else will be attending the ball?"

"... Um... Varia... Simon Famiglia... Arcobalenos... Basically everyone we have ever fought..." Tsuna's voice was hardly a whisper at the end, and Dino was staring at him in horror.

"... I hate you for doing this to me..." He cried as he resigned to his fate to die at this event.

"Me too Dino, me too. But I like living... I think?" Dino and Tsuna both then decided not to question their lives, since that would be too much to their sanity. _(Or what was left of it by now anyway...)_

~O~

 **At the ball...**

So far, everything was good. Or so Tsuna and Dino kept telling themselves.

Their self-doubt to aside, things had been actually going very good so far. Tsuna had been mostly talking with different Famiglia heads, trying to leave good first impression. Ryohei hadn't asked any one to join his EXTREME boxing club, and was actually talking in more-or-less-normal voice volume! Mukuro hadn't tried to take over any ones mind, at the best just trolling with them, Lambo hadn't caused a mess or thrown any tantrums, Chrome was smiling and eating sweets with girls, Takeshi had been making sure that Hayato didn't explode on anyone's face, and best of all, Kyoya hadn't fought anyone trough the whole evening!

Well, aside from Dino, but that was in their deal. They agreed that Kyoya would behave in the ball, and whenever he felt like he had to deal with someone particularly annoying, he would exit the situation and look for Dino, who would take them to side to have a small spar. So far, this had only happened nine times, and the ball had started almost six hours ago, so Dino and Tsuna counted that as a win.

Varia and all of their other friends had also been behaving very well, only causing a small racket. Xanxus and Squalo had been mostly hanging around Dino, trying to avoid talking to anyone and the tenth generation. Well, Xanxus was, Squalo hadn't had any problems with going to Takeshi for a chat.

So that's how Xanxus and Dino had ended up at the side of the ball room, Xanxus sitting in his throne, while Dino leaned against the wall next to him, both calmly drinking their wine. Xanxus had his usual clothing, with few ne feathers that he got from I-pin and Lambo in his hair. Dino on the other hand was wearing a white tuxedo jacked and pants, with black shoes and maroon undershirt. He didn't have a tie, and his jacket was open.

The ball room was huge, and it was shining from the light that the chandeliers provided, the floor and walls were made of marble, with golden decorations here and there. And the whole room was full of colourful gowns, and laughter of the higher classes and fake polite complications.

"So, how are things with Nono? Still inflammable?" Dino casually queried, making sure that he got across that he didn't mean anything with it. Not that he needed, Xanxus already knew as much.

The other scoffed out a snort. "That's putting it mildly. We are both too stubborn for our own good."

Now was Dino's turn to snort. "Oh, I can imagine that." And they fell into a comfortable silence once again. They didn't have a need to talk, but every once in a while, some small talk would be held. If only to prevent strangers from trying to interrupting them.

"I heard you are still training the brat's Cloud. " Xanxus stated, his lips rising slightly up in amusement. Dino huffed at that.

"Heh, more like getting myself beaten to the ground... The kid is strong as hell, but he has some bad anger management problems, let me tell you." Dino grinned when he got a laugh out of Xanxus with that. Then suddenly a serious air fell over Varia's leader as he stared at Dino from the corner of his eye, making Dino raise an eyebrow.

"I have also heard that there has been many killing threats sent to Cavallone Famiglia recently." Dino gave himself away by stilling for a millisecond, before trying to cover it by shrugging. Xanxus didn't like that one a bit.

"Horse trash..." Dino laughed slightly as Xanxus growled at him, a hint of possessiveness colouring his tone.

"It's fine. They have all been sent by different people, and so far we haven't found any connection between them. But I have a feeling of who they are from." Dino admitted, letting his smiled drop for a second as he added. "I believe that there are few of their men and women even here, but I'm hope they are smart enough not to do anything here."

Now Xanxus was just glaring at him. He looked like he wanted to throw something at him, but for once, he didn't look like he wanted to make a scene. "You do realise that you just fucking jinxed it?"

"... Why does universe hate me so much?" Dino whined as he let out a long sigh.

"'Cause you are a fucking idiot, trash, and you suicidal as hell." Xanxus grunted as he drank a whole glass in one go.

"I'm NOT suicidal!"

"Keep telling yourself that." Xanxus laughed as he took out a whole bottle of wine. _'WHERE DID HE GET THAT?!'_ Dino wondered.

"Also, you'll be with me and the shark 'till this shit show is over, and then I'll sent my boys out to get rip off the trashes." Dino blinked, but he nodded anyway when Xanxus glared at him.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. But you DO know that I'm able to defence myself right?" Xanxus scoffed as he stood up and led them closer their friends.

"Yeah, and I'm a fucking unicorn, Bronco."

"That's just offensive." Despite his words, Dino was smirking. Both men kept chuckling as they came closer to the rest of Varia and the tenth generation of Vongola. Dino also saw Byakuran and Yuni talking to Tsuna, and they all soon turned to them, so Dino gave a small wave. He was about to go up to them, but the sharp look Xanxus gave him made him decide against it, so he stood next to the dark haired male.

Tsuna, Byakuran and Yuni raised their eyebrows, but still came up to them.

"Dino-nii, long time no see." Yuni smiled at him, and Dino ruffled her hair, earning a small whine. "Dino-nii! Gamma spent HOURS on my hair, I'll get scolded if I mess it up!"

"Heh, sorry Yuni." Dino chuckled, not all that sorry when Yuni pouted at him. Byakuran and Tsuna also chuckled at them, and Dino offered Byakura a brief greeting. "Byakuran."

"Bucking horse." Suddenly, Byakuran's smirk turned into a frown. Dino got a bad feeling about this...

"Bronco, I have heard rumors that someone has put a bounty on you. The person who is to kill you should earn closer to five million, from what my sources are telling me. Is this true?"

Dino sighed when Yuni's and Tsuna's eyes narrowed, and he swore Xanxus growled. He could feel how his fellow Skies bristled at the idea of someone threatening someone who was theirs. _(Seriously, the possessiveness that the young Elements had...)_ He sighed, accepting that this matter would no longer be in his hands.

"Yeah. If you want to know more, ask Romario. I won't say more about this matter for tonight." At that the others glanced at Xanxus, who gave a stiff nod, and others took that as a cue to go and find the said man.

"You know, I miss those days when I wasn't some sort of Cinnamon roll, but a feared mafia boss." Dino sighed, shaking his head amusedly.

The snort that escaped Xanxus could probably bee heard at the other end of the hall, but everyone were polite enough to ignore it and the howling laughter that followed. _(Honestly they were just afraid to even think what could possibly make the merciless and vicious leader of Varia SNORT, let alone laugh.)_

"Geez, you know how to make someone feel special alright..." Dino rolled his eyes as Xanxus crackled.

~O~

It was actually at the end of the ball, that something really went wrong.

By then, the whole Varia and Vongola's tenth generation knew, along with Arcobalenos and the rest. Reborn, Kyoya and Squalo had been especially pissed at him for not telling them earlier. Tsuna had managed to talk them out of right _MAIMING_ him, but they were still majorly pissed. After that, Dino doubted that there was a moment that he had spent truly alone in the ball, and well, he didn't really mind. He and Romario had been only ones to come, and he had told Romario _(more like ordered)_ to have fun and enjoy himself. So company was welcomed.

Well, to a point.

Dino had accidentally managed to lose Xanxus and Squalo, who had been his companions for most of the night, when he went to the side of the room, next to the windows so he could breath fresh air. He maid sure that he could see to all directions, and that he had at least five escape rotes, and a cover, if there would be firearms aimed at him.

It was then, that Dino really looked at the crowd of guests that were in the hall. Of course there were mafiasos, dealers, some more well known traders, and a handful of hitmans and hitwomans, excluding Arcobalenos. But he could also see some famous civilians. Like bankers, sponsors and even some celebrities. Dino wasn't all that surprised, Vongola did have many ties in the both sides of the world.

But now, if the hitmen he had seen following him around, attacked him here, there was a high possibility that civilians would be involved.

Before Dino had time to make up a strategy, a woman came up to him. She was wearing a deep blue coloured simple summer dress, that hugged her body figure around her upper body and flowered arund her legs, reached her knees. The dress was very comfortable looking, and it even had pockets.

Despite looking closer to her early thirties, dress fit her perfectly. She had an air of a lady, a with a great intelligence and understanding in her gaze. Her dirty blond hair was on a bun, and hadn't Dino been raised as he had been, he may not have seen the way she hold herself or glanced around for any possible danger, that told that this woman wasn't as helpless as she may look.

"But isn't it Dino Cavallone himself! What a pleasure to the eye." She had an British accent, and a pleasant voice that Dino couldn't help but smile at. While he knew that this woman could probably easily kill him, he could sense a kind soul in her.

 _'Correction, a kind soul that has a gun holder on both of her tights._ ' Dino noted. AND NO, he wasn't a pervert. He could hear the ever slight clicks that came when she moved around.

"I could say same about you, miss...?" Dino gave her a questioning look, and the woman chuckled.

"I'm afraid I'm not a 'Miss' anymore. But the name is Marry. Marry Watson." She nodded her head towards a smallish man with short sand blond hair, who had a black suit, with a tie that matched her dress and blue Lily on his jacket's front pocket, also matching Marry's corsage flower. "That over there is my husband, Dr. John Watson. And that."

Now she pointed at a very tall male, with dark and curly hair and high cheek bones, who had a dark grey suite with a purple undershirt, and no tie. The man was standing next to Dr. Watson, looking utterly bored while he talked about something, Dr. Watson just listening to the man. And going by how Dr. Watson looked like he found his friend amusing yet not very professional, as he tried to look strict and disapproving and failing at that miserably, Dino was very sure he was saying very interesting things about the other guests in the room.

(And the fact that Dino could read from lips had nothing to do with this... Honestly, he found himself holding back a snort as the man insulted Mr. Riverson, the most successful fashion designer in the room, as _'a simple minded idiot who took credit from others'_ .)

"Is our mutual friend, Sherlock Holmes." Dino beamed at this, he had heard of Sherlock Holmes before. The man was quite famous, and he told Mary as much.

"Now, please don't be offended by this Mts. Watson, but what business would you have with me? I believe you and your companions are very aware of who I am." Dino questioned, giving her a knowing look. No need to pretend when the woman clearly knew who he was.

"No offence taken. I actually came to inform you, that those three" She nodded her head towards some quests, or hitmans, that had been on Dino's case the whole night. " Have been following you awfully closely-"

"I appreciate your concern and it's at most welcomed, but I am aware of this already." Dino smiled, and casually lifted his suit's jacket enough to relive his loyal whip to Mary. "And as much as I trust my friends here, it's never too much to have some extra protection, am I right?"

Mary chuckled as she nodded. "I see. Then I guess I have nothing more to do here."

"I'm afraid so. But please, do tell Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson that I appreciate this." Dino gave her a charming smile as she started to walk back to her companions. "And please remember not to take out your guns unless it's necessary."

Mary paused, gave him an impressed look, nodded and left. Leaving Dino to himself once again. _'Interesting. I can't wait to tell Tsuna! He's such a huge Sherlock fan...'_

And then the shooting started.

Dino saw one of the men fingering a gun inside his pocket, and he realised just how close they were. There was thankfully still about ten meters between them, but there were also civilian women between them. The second the man took the gun out and triggered the first set of shots, Dino had his whip already slashing them away from the ladies. They screamed and quickly fled, drawing attention. Not that the shot that rang through the air hadn't already done that.

Now, the whole ball room was a chaos, Dino was fighting three armed assassins alone, _(Thank God Romario was still in his 1 km range!)_ , while trying to protect the civilians while Vongola's Guardians were leading them out.

"Gah!" Dino grunted when two shots hit his right arm and leg, causing him to buckle a little. Two of the men took this as an invitation to change to close up combat, taking out knifes while the third one still kept shooting. Dino was having his hands full with the shooter, and he gained a few more hits from the bullets as he tried to dodge the other two, who took turns in trying to sweep his head off. Dino tried to use one of his closer attackers as a shield against the shooter, but the other paused long enough for the other two to distract Dino before going back at it again.

Until the shooter was shot down by one of Xanxus' bullets.

The other two froze, staring at the leader of the Varia in fearful awe, giving Dino a change to back up to his friend's side.

"Yo, having fun?" Dino huffed out between pants, holding his left side and trying to put pressure on a wound. Xanxus stared at him, giving him an once over, before turning completely pissed off.

"You Horseshit, I TOLD YOU to stay close!" Dino gave a sheepish laugh to that growl, while inwardly winching. _'I'm screwed...'_

"Hey, not my fault you lost me in the crowd!"

"Xanxus! DINO!" Dino glanced over his shoulder to find Tsuna, Byakuran and Yuni running to them. "Stop fighting!"

"We weren't fighting; we were arguing. There's a difference." Dino huffed at Yuni, who didn't look very amused. Well, neither did any one else.

"Anyway, Xanxus, Byakuran, can you deal with those two while we get Dino-san to Shamal?" Tsuna broke the ice with his serious attitude. Even Dino could sense that the younger male was angry, and if he wasn't imagining things, Tsuna's eyes had an orange glint in them.

"Hey I'm just fi-" Before Dino could finish, he felt ANOTHER shot hitting him. This time it hit his shoulder, and he registered the pain, someone screaming, and his own name being shouted before he blacked out.

~O~

Next time that Dino's eyes fluttered open, he was in the infirmary. He was laying in a hospital bed, surrounded by white curtains, and the place was bathing in the bright sunlight coming from the great French windows on the other side of the curtains.

Dino was hosting seven bullet wounds, including the one that got him to pass out, four knife cuts, all of them about two to three inches deep, and some rather nasty bruises.

"Hey, look who decided to wake up..." Dino glanced at the source of the voice, and he smiled slightly when he realised that the sarcastic note came from Reborn. The other man was sitting next to Dino's bed, legs and arms crossed, looming over him like a shadow. _(It was still so weird to see his previous tutor in his true form...)_

"Hi Reborn..." Dino croaked making the world's best hitman grimace. "What 're you do'ng here...?" Reborn huffed, uncrossing his arms to give Dino's forehead a flick with his fingers. And since Reborn wasn't known to be exactly gentle, Dino flinched at the force directed to his head. _'Autch...'_

"Well, one of my idiot students almost got himself killed, pissing off my second student, along with his vicious Cloud and rest of his Guardians, plus a whole lot of other people. So while they are looking for the people responsible for this and dealing with them, I was left to babysit you."

Dino swear dropped as he imagined the chaos that must have be on lose. _(Then again, he couldn't help but feel happy that they cared enough to do that. He knew that if it was Tsuna or anyone else, he would do the same, so to have them care about him was... Moving.)_ "Umn... Sor'y?"

"Huff, you better be, pipsqueak Dino." Dino was about to protest on the nickname, when Reborn cut him off by ruffling his hair. "But you weren't half bad against those guys. They weren't beginners. And I saw the research you and your family had on these people. It was bearable."

 _'Good work. I'm proud.'_ Dino blinked, before chuckling and laying down. He closed his eyes, just enjoying the rare moment of serenity.

"Mmmm...I had a good teacher..." Reborn huffed out a laugh.

"And don't you forget that, Bronco's brat." Dino chuckled before slowly falling asleep, feeling rather safe.

~O~

 **Hey everyone! It's been so long! I'm not completely happy with this, but I want to update today, so...**

 **As for why now, well, I'm going to find out tomorrow if I got in to the college I want to go, and I have decided to have that as my free day from writing. And after that I'll be spending weekend at my friend's place, so it'll be a while till I can get back to writing.**

 **And I hope you enjoyed the little scene with Mary and Sherlock! I'm been itching to write something about them, but well...**

 **Anyway, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR FAVORITING, FOLLOWING, REVIEWING AND READING THIS FIC! I HOPE I CAN LIVE UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS!**


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